Gwyl Haf Santes Eluned Summer Fair
1 August 2018
Building on the success of last year’s St Eluned’s Day Festival, we’re planning a day of walks, children’s crafts, music, storytelling, dancing and more to highlight our rich local Welsh history and culture.
The Christian story in and around Brecon goes back more than 1500 years. That long history is visible in the many parish churches, Brecon Cathedral (formerly a Norman Priory), holy wells, and an abundance of local saints. Brecon even has it’s own saint, Eluned: according to tradition she lived on Slwch during the 5th or 6th century, and was decapitated by her would-be suitor for rejecting his advances. According to the same traditions, a spring appeared where her head landed, which became a holy well.
The day will have activities for people of all ages and interests. There’ll be plenty of food, a specially named beer, music on traditional Welsh instruments, and medieval re-enactors.
In the evening, we’ll have a Welsh Eucharist followed by a short conference on the religious heritage of Wales. The keynote speaker will be:
Dr Kathryn Hurlock
Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Her talk is entitled,
“I am healed by the sight of you’: sensing pilgrimage in late medieval Wales.’
The day ends with a traditional Twmpath in the Cathedral. For those unfamiliar with Wales, a Twmpath is like a Scottish ceilidh.
Amserlen ar Gyfer y Dydd | Timetable for Day
11:00am
Taith dywys i Ffynnon Eluned, Twmpa Slwch (yn gadael o Ysgol y Bannau) Guided walk
to St Eluned’s Well, Slwch Tump (leaving from Ysgol y Bannau)
12:30pm
Crefftau i blant yn y Degwm (tan 4:30pm)
Children’s crafts in Tithebarn (until 4:30pm)
Mochyn Rhost a chwrw Santes Eluned ar gael | Cerddoriaeth gefndirol
Hog roast and St Eluned Ale available | Background music
1:00pm
Cerddoriaeth werin Gymreig |Dawnsio Anffurfiol | Adrodd Straeon
Welsh folk music | Informal dancing |Storytelling
4:30pm
Cymun Bendigaid Cymraeg
Cathedral Eucharist (in Welsh, with handouts so anyone can join in)
5:30pm
Cynrychiolwyr yn ymgynnull ar gyfer cynhadledd gyda’r nos (diod croeso)
Delegates assemble for evening conference (welcome drink)
6:00pm
Cynhadledd yn dechrau (yn Saesneg) | Conference starts (in English)
7:30pm
Daw’r gynhadledd i ben | Conference ends
8:00pm
Twmpath (gyda swper ysgafn a bar arian parod)
Twmpath (with light supper and cash bar)
Weekly Podcast
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- Episode 9 - Baptism April 22, 2020Mark uses the Norman font at Brecon Cathedral to discuss how the paradox of silence and words are resolved in baptism and how they have been related to the Incarnation of Christ. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mark-clavier/message
- Episode 8 - Words April 17, 2020Cadair Idris is a mountain of myths and legends: the chair of the giant Idris Gawr and the hunting grounds of Gwyn ap Nudd's hounds. Mark considers how words inscribed into landscapes become explosive, shaping us in fundamental ways. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mark-clavier/message
- Episode 7 – Silence April 15, 2020What’s more silent than a mountain on a still night? Mark ponders the silence he experienced as he sat by his tent in Cwm Cau on Cadair Idris and what it tells us about our own inner silence and the silence we know as God. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mark-clavier/message
- Episode 6 - The Incarnation April 10, 2020Reflecting on the juxtaposition of thick-history situated within changeless landscapes, Mark discusses what the paradox of eternity and time tell us about Jesus Christ. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mark-clavier/message
- Episode 5 - History April 8, 2020Mark recounts his walk from the Dysynni Valley where the layers of history stretching back to the Bronze Age hold important lessons about place, thick-time, and our care for the earth. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mark-clavier/message
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